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Yes when XP first came out it was virtually an OEM standard to install it with a FAT32 file system on laptops. It did not matter if it was the home version or Pro.

I am pretty sure that the Desktops with the Home Edition were FAT32 as well.

This really should be a fairly simple exercise? I have done it many times without real problems. Things to watch should be IMO:

1. The jumper settings on the HDDs. One should be Master and the other Slave, or both should be Cable Select (CS).

2. If you are using cable select then the master drive should be at the end and the slave in the middle of the ribbon cable. Even if you set the jumpers, this would still be my recommended configuration.

3. Go into BIOS, and on the first screen (usually "general settings" or something like that) check to see if the BIOS has detected both drives.

4. If the BIOS does not detect both drives, there should be an option to autodetect. Take that and the other drive should "appear".

5. If that doesn't work, then check that you have connected the ribbon cable right way round. It shouldn't be possible to get the Molex connector (power supply) wrong, but you never know.

There should be a thin red strip down the edge of the ribbon cable. This should face to where the power supply (Molex) plugs in. Assuming that the Molex has red, black and yellow wires, the red wires should face the red strip on the ribbon cable.

As you have a working machine, just make sure that the second drive is wired the same way round as the existing one

6. If you still have problems, try disconnecting the drives from the second EIDE slot on the MoBO and connect the second HDD there.

NB: I am assuming that these are both EIDE drives rather than mixed EIDE/SCSI.